


Free Hugs

by Red Charade (traciller)



Series: Flash Tumblr Ficlets [35]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Len Needs a Hug, M/M, Social Experiment, free hugs, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-31 00:28:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6448156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/traciller/pseuds/Red%20Charade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry is walking around an area of the town square without a shirt and holding a sign announcing Free Hugs. Len has just lost his job and isn't in the least bit interested in hugging strangers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Free Hugs

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this Tumblr post: http://masturbasic.tumblr.com/post/116139997134

There’s a strange guy walking around the square right now. Some strange weirdo without a shirt is walking around Central City square and holding up a sign that says nothing but “Free Hugs” on it with a little drawing of two people hugging on it. Leonard Snart is not impressed. It’s not that the guy isn’t hot; he is. It’s just that Len isn’t in the mood for fun and games right now. He’s too upset for that. He just got fired from a job he actually kind of liked over something he didn’t even do and it  _ just sucks _ , okay?

So, he could use a hug but he doesn’t want one. Especially not from someone who’s probably filming it as a prank that’ll end up on YouTube or on the 6 o’clock news or some shit. That’s the last thing he needs is to be pathetic on the news for everyone in the city to see. Ugh.

Still, he doesn’t leave and just kind of hangs around the area because…well the guy is hot. And shirtless. Len can admire from afar, alright? Who doesn’t want to look at a hot guy with a beautiful smile after a rough day?

Len watches a few women and a few guys, and even a few little kids, give this guy a hug. And he has to admit, those hugs look amazing. Though, that thought kind of just makes him a little sad because he doesn’t have anyone to hug him the way that guy is hugging these strangers. He could hug this guy himself, but he still doesn’t want to make a spectacle of himself for whatever gimmick this guy’s got going on right now.

After a while, when Len has stopped watching and is just kind of staring at the ground, lost in his thoughts and wondering how he’s going to send Lisa money while she’s in college if he doesn’t have a fucking job, when sees jeans-covered legs in front of him.

Those weren’t there before…

He looks up and is kind of startled to see the guy who’d been handing out hugs, no longer with his sign but still just as shirtless.

“Can I help you?” Len asks, leaning back a little to look up at the guy and only somewhat caring that he’s being rude.

“Yeah, actually. I was wondering if I could give you a hug?”

He really does look adorable, Len thinks. Sincere and open and he sounds like a sweet guy. Except this isn’t out of the goodness of his heart, Len’s sure this is just a gimmick and gimmicks aren’t out of the goodness of anyone’s heart. Even when people pretend they’re altruistic. They just want something to go viral on the Internet.

“I don’t wanna be part of whatever stupid little gimmick you got goin on here, kid. I ain’t in the mood. Move along,” Len has to admit it feels a little good to take some of his bad day out on someone else. It also feels a little bad, because his bad day isn’t this guy’s fault. Not that he looks at all deterred by Len’s bad attitude.

“Well, it’s not…I mean it is…um…It’s just a thing for my friend’s article she’s writing for work. But, it’s over now and you’ve been out here for a while and you’re really the only person I’ve seen today that looks like they really _need_ a hug. So…how about it?” That was some serious rambling, but it was kind of cute and what is with the sincere puppy eyes? Where’s a cop, because that has to be illegal.

Still, the guy had just confirmed his suspicions.

“I don’t need your charity, kid,” he said, standing away from where he’d been leaning on the concrete fountain.

“It’s just a hug. I promise,” the kid said and had the audacity to smile. Was there a law against stealing sunshine? Because this kid steals a lot of it for those smiles.

Len sighed with the guy literally opened his arms for a hug and made “c’mere” motions with his fingers.

“Fine…but only because you’re drawing attention acting like that,” Len said, which was untrue. He was drawing attention because he was a shirtless guy who had five minutes ago been walking around with a sign held in the air about free hugs.

Still, Len leaned forward and wrapped his arms around the man, feeling a little awkward because he didn’t usually hug people or allow himself to be touched too often.

But…damn it was nice just this once. This man felt good in his arms, tall and strong even if he was lean and thin. He didn’t have scars on him, the way Len knew he did under his own shirt, so his skin was warm and almost like velvet with how smooth it was. He couldn’t help burying his face against the other man’s shoulder, in the crook of his neck, and squeeze his arms around him a little tighter, let his body sink into it a little, sag against him just slightly.

It was a strange feeling to just..relax against someone like this. He was always so tense, carrying all of his burdens and some that weren’t even his that sometimes he forgot how heavy they were. Other times they felt so heavy he wanted to stagger and fall to his knees beneath them but he never did. And neither did this stranger he was holding onto right now.

This stranger who had wrapped his arms around Len just as tight, stepped into the embrace more, and rested his head against Len’s. Those arms might not be huge but they were strong and this guy, he just…he just felt like he was enveloping Len with the way he hugged. And it was nice and it was comforting, and damn it but he actually felt a little better.

He sighed heavily and indulgent against this man’s bare skin under his lips and for one crazy moment he had the idea to kiss his shoulder, his neck, maybe taste his collar bone. But, he didn’t because how insane was that? The kid offered a hug, he didn’t sign up for sexual harassment.

After a few minutes they both mutually pulled away from each other and Len felt a little awkward because…well what’s he supposed to say now? What the hell is the protocol for this kind of a weird, even if very pleasant, encounter?

“So…” the brunet said, smiling at Len and letting his hand fall away along Len’s clothes and then took it back entirely.

“Right…” Len was pretty sure he wasn’t helping. Usually he knew what to say in awkward situations, in any situation, but this was…well, this was a new one.

“I’m Barry, by the way. I should probably go, but…maybe we could go get coffee sometime? Call me…if you want, that is. I mean…no pressure, of course, if you never wanna see me again, I totally get that. I don’t want to seem like a creep. But, um…it’d be nice to see you again, is what I’m saying,” the guy, Barry, cringed at his own rambling and rubbed at the back of his neck, backing away even as he looked up at Len with a sheepish hopefulness.

“I don’t have–” he started, before patting his pockets for a pen, some paper, anything, his goddamn phone (where the hell was his fucking phone??), when Barry’s cheeks pinked a little darker and he grinned and patted his chest right over where…

Where Len’s shirt pocket was! His eyes widened in realization and he quickly slipped his fingers into the pocket and pulled out…a piece of paper with a name and number on it.

“Heh. Well, looks like I’ll be seeing you soon, Barry,” he said, making sure to let his tongue caress that name and he watched with a satisfied feeling in his gut as Barry swallowed hard and then nodded and turned around to go find his friend.

Len smirked and looked down at the paper with Barry’s name and number on it, taking his phone out of his back pocket to transfer the number there before anything had a chance to happen to the little slip of paper. He still put the paper back in his pocket, though. Just in case. What if something happened to his phone instead?

Still, today wasn’t completely awful, after all.


End file.
